Extended Fast - SLOW weight loss - what’s the cause?

(Mike) #1

I am currently on day 5 of my 2nd extended fast in the past 3 months. During the first fast I lost 30lbs in 21 days of drinking ONLY water and adding a bit of salt now and then.

With this water fast I have added the drinking of coffee, diet soda, and much more salt. In the coffee I will at times add Splenda.

I noticed that my weight loss is much slower than the first fast. I am wondering if the addition of more salt, artificial sweeteners, or even the Caffeine are the cause. The only other thing I can think of is that before my first fast, I was moving from a typical American diet (high carbs, low fat) while with this diet I had dropped the carbs (to 20g or fewer), moderate protein, and high fat because I moved to a Keto diet immediately after my first first.

Any ideas??

Thanks!
Mike

#2

What was your diet like prior to this second fast? Would you say you were limiting your food intake? or would you say that you were doing a couple days of feasting prior?

Remember this episode? Reminds us to switch up our energy intakes to avoid metabolic adaptation to a regular diet, and to feast then fast to spike our metabolism and then force body fat consumption.

hope this helps! good luck!

(Mike) #3

Lindsay, thanks for the reply.

Prior to the 2nd fast, I was on a Keto diet with carbs at only about 15-25g per day, moderate protein, and plenty of fat.

I will listen to the podcast. I never noticed it before, but my iPhone doesn’t put the episode numbers on so I had to scroll and scroll to find it. :frowning:

(Todd Allen) #4

People typically lose on the order of 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound of fat per day of fasting. Additional weight loss is usually water and muscle loss can contribute to faster weight loss in some cases. Someone doing heavy weight lifting and getting everything right might be able to lose significantly less than 1/2 lb per day by gaining muscle while losing fat as muscle retains water. The addition of salt to your second fast may have helped you retain more water weight through your fast - a good thing.

(What The Fast?!) #5

If you have any insulin resistance or a high fasting insulin (or even if you don’t), diet soda could be causing your insulin to rise. (I believe this is called a cephalic insulin response?) I’d recommend cutting out all added sweeteners during a fast. Also, the powdered form of Splenda most often has maltodextrin in it, which is insulinogenic.

(Stephanie Pettinella) #6

You might’ve answered your own question. You added in diet soda and splenda in your coffee. Just because these sweeteners don’t have an effect on glucose, doesn’t mean they won’t affect your insulin. The purpose of a fast for weight loss is to keep your insulin levels way down. If you continue to stimulate insulin, that’s your problem…

(Mike) #7

Todd … thanks for the insight. I need to figure out if I should just eat salt throughout the day, if I should do so according to a certain minimum about per day, or if I should just use it when I need to. I think some of my issue is water gain.

(Mike) #8

Thank you very much, yayhowfun for the insight. I have stopped the Splenda and diet drinks to see how that affects my weight loss.

(Mike) #9

Thanks, degogirl! I will stop the Splenda. On a side note, do ALL artificial sweeteners do the same thing to insulin?

(What The Fast?!) #10

There’s not really a way to know for sure, since there is no at-home insulin test. I’ve tested several sweeteners at home to see if there’s a blood glucose rise, but sometimes insulin rises without a blood glucose increase.

(Ethan) #11

Blood glucose going DOWN is often an indicator of insulin rise as well.

(What The Fast?!) #12

Good point. Either way, insulin can rise without anything happening to BG.

(Mike) #13

Thanks, all! I will stay away from artificial sweeteners on this water fast!